


When We Meet Again

by samann98



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 11:11:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15884868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samann98/pseuds/samann98
Summary: Cyrus hasn't spoken to Jonah since middle school but a chance encounter brings them back together.





	When We Meet Again

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 3 of 30 Days of Jyrus- High School or College AU

The University of California wasn’t Cyrus’ first choice school or his second or even his third, but it ends up being the best place for him.  After spending four years in dreary London, the California sun is a welcome change for the young man. 

After one semester at the university, Cyrus has gotten quite comfortable there.  Cyrus works part time at the school’s main library and when he’s not working he spends the rest of his time studying and is doing well in his five classes. 

His full course load and work schedule keeps him busy and doesn’t leave Cyrus much time for socializing.  All four of his parents are worried that he’s overextending himself, but he assures them once a day that he’s doing fine and couldn’t be happier with how his life is going. 

It’s a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.  Cyrus has just completed an early shift at the library and is heading back to his dorm to finish his reading for his British Lit class.  While living in London, Cyrus read his fair share of British works but surprisingly his Lit professor has chosen several books that he hasn’t read yet.

Cyrus is walking across the quad, too engrossed in _Far from the Maddening Crowd_ to pay any mind to the group of young men playing frisbee together.  He’s just turned the page when he hears someone yell, “Look out!”

What happens next is a complete blur.  Someone slams into Cyrus, and the force of it not only takes Cyrus down but also the guy who knocked into him as well.  Cyrus lands on his back and the guy tumbles on top of him and they end up in a tangle of limbs. 

Cyrus is still seeing stars when the voice of the same person who initially warned him of the impending peril, a voice that sounds awfully familiar to him now that he hears it again, says, “I’m so sorry.  Are you okay?  I didn’t mean to bump into you.  I was just trying to catch a frisbee when I…”

The voice trails off and Cyrus is sure he hears the person’s sharp intake of breath and wonders what could’ve caused his reaction when the guy exclaims, “Cyrus?”

Cyrus opens his eyes and is greeted with a very familiar smile and a pair of dimples that, five years later, still manages to knock the wind out of him more than being slammed to the ground ever could.

“Jonah?”  Jonah nods quickly in response and Cyrus can hardly believe it.  The guy that knocked into him is Jonah Beck, his middle school friend and secret crush. 

Of course he looks different from the last time Cyrus saw him, the summer before he moved away to London and lost touch with him.  Jonah’s taller and has filled out more, broader in the chest and shoulders, but his eyes and smile are exactly the same. 

“I can’t believe it’s you!  What are you doing here?”  Jonah asks but then answers his own question.  “Oh right, you go here, so do I, but you probably figured that out already.  I just…I can’t believe it’s really you.  I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

Jonah’s tone changes from excitement to crestfallen in a matter of seconds and Cyrus can’t help the guilt that overtakes him. 

He hadn’t wanted to stop communicating with Jonah, but it just got hard for Cyrus being so far away from Jonah and not spending time with him the way he used to.  Texting and FaceTiming wasn’t enough for him and eventually instead of trying to keep up with Jonah, Cyrus pulled away from him. 

He still continued to talk to Andi and Buffy, but it was different with Jonah.  There were feelings involved, feelings that Cyrus pushed down and kept from Jonah.  Cyrus made both girls swear not to tell Jonah anything that was going on in his life and while they hated the idea of keeping things from him, they both eventually agreed.

After moving on from Jonah, Cyrus figured he’d never see him again so Jonah literally bumping into him on the campus of the University of California is quite a surprise for him. 

Jonah’s still on top of him but his smile is gone, replaced with a small frown.  “You changed your number and deleted all of your social media,” he reminds him as if Cyrus could forget the lengths he went through to distance himself from the young man.  “I couldn’t— _we_ couldn’t reach you.  You just…cut yourself off from me, from all of us.  Why?”

Jonah stands after that statement and pulls Cyrus up with him.  “You knew how hard it was for all of us when Buffy moved that time and stopped talking to us so why would you do the same thing?” 

Jonah folds his arms, waiting for an answer from him and Cyrus doesn’t know how to explain his actions.  “Buffy came back, I didn’t,” he blurts out.  “I knew I wasn’t coming back and at the time it just seemed easier to cut ties, to move on.”

“Easier for who?”  Jonah questions.  “Not for the girls and certainly not for me.  I missed you.”

Cyrus avoids Jonah’s eyes after his confession.  He wants to say the words too, to admit how much he missed Jonah but instead he holds back, choosing to fiddle with the book in his hands rather than speak again and risk blabbing about a stupid middle school crush he should’ve gotten over years ago.

Jonah’s expression changes again, from disappointed to determined and he surprises Cyrus with what he says next.  “It’s okay.  What happened before is in the past.  I got you back and that’s all that matters.  Could we maybe go get a cup of coffee or something and catch up?”

Cyrus hesitates to answer.  He wants to say yes, but he knows trying to go back to the way things were, to forget what he did, won’t be as easy as Jonah is making it out to be.

“I’ve got some reading to finish,” he says, holding up his book.  He even tries to walk away as if Jonah would let him leave like that.

Jonah catches his arm and holds him back.  “Okay, that’s fine.  At least let me give you my number.”  He reaches into Cyrus’ pocket, grabs his phone, and puts in the passcode, the same one Cyrus had in middle school. 

“You really shouldn’t have the same passcode from five years ago, Cyrus,” Jonah tells him, his dimpled smile returning for the first time since their conversation began.

Cyrus can only shrug in response and watch as he taps the buttons on the screen with ease.  After Jonah puts his number in and returns Cyrus’ phone he says, “You don’t have to give me your number but at least consider calling me.  I don’t want to lose you again.”

Cyrus nods, wanting to say more, but he only manages two words.  “Bye, Jonah.”

He walks away and Jonah lets him but not without calling out to him one last time, “I’ll see you later, Cyrus.” 

Cyrus makes the mistake of turning back to glance at Jonah, and the young man is smiling, hand raised in parting as if he knew Cyrus was going to look back.  Cyrus quickly turns away and walks faster, but he still hears Jonah laugh softly at his actions. 

*****

A week passes and Cyrus hasn’t called Jonah, not that he hasn’t thought about it.  He’s sitting in his dorm room and is supposed to be studying for a Chemistry exam, but he can’t seem to concentrate on anything. 

His phone is next to him, tempting him to pick it up and call Jonah, and it’s distracting him.  That, plus the pounding bass of the music coming from his neighbor’s room is enough to have Cyrus banging his head on his desk in frustration.

He can’t call Jonah.  What would he even say if he did, “sorry for not talking to you for five years but I’m pretty sure I still have feelings for you”?  The faux conversation sounds dumb in his own head so he can’t even imagine how it’ll sound to Jonah. 

Cyrus drops his head in his hands and rubs his temples before trying to return to his studies.  His attempt is futile though because he can’t focus on anything, not when he can’t stop thinking about…not when his neighbor’s music is ringing in his ears.

He rolls his eyes and pushes his chair back from his desk.  Cyrus may not be able to follow through on calling Jonah but the least he can do is confront his neighbor about the music that’s been blasting through his walls for nearly two hours.

Cyrus strides over to the offending room, pounds on the door, and waits for them to answer.  It takes a moment but when the person finally opens the door Cyrus’ mouth drops open in shock because his rude neighbor with the loud music is Jonah.

Jonah looks just as surprised as Cyrus when he sees him standing in the hallway, but the surprise fades away and is replaced with a wide smile when Jonah asks, “Did you look me up?”

Cyrus sputters incoherently for a moment before exclaiming, “No!  I live here!  Well, not _here_ , next door.  What are you doing here?”

“I live here too,” Jonah replies, but Cyrus shakes his head at him.

“No, you don’t.  This is my second semester and I’ve never seen you here once.”

“Well, that’s because I’m hardly ever here, not that I’m with someone,” Jonah adds quickly.  “I usually stay at my friend’s place.  He’s _just a friend_ ,” he stresses as if that’s supposed to mean something to Cyrus and maybe it does but Cyrus would never let him know that.

“You don’t owe me an explanation about who you’re staying with,” Cyrus tells him, and Jonah quirks an eyebrow at him as if to say, “you sure about that?” but Cyrus ignores it and presses on with his original reason for showing up at his door. 

“I’m trying to study but your awful music is so loud that I can’t concentrate so could you turn it down or, better yet, use headphones?”  Cyrus expects Jonah to take offense to his crack about his musical tastes but he just laughs instead.

“Oh, so you think my taste in music is awful?”

“Yeah, I do.  You’ve been listening to G-Eazy for the last hour,” Cyrus points out, and Jonah laughs again before making a suggestion.

“Well, maybe you could recommend some less awful music and we could listen to it together.”

Cyrus is taken aback by his offer and he stammers out a response to it.  “I…I’m studying.  I have a Chemistry exam on Monday that’s worth 25% of my grade.  I can’t afford to slack off.”

“You’ve got Harris, don’t you?”  When Cyrus nods, Jonah adds, “I had him last semester.  Just make sure you do the study guide because the test has all the same questions just in a different order.  Actually, I think I still have mine.  You could look at it if you want to.”

Cyrus immediately declines.  “That would be cheating.”

“Okay, so why don’t I help you study?  I’m pretty good at Chemistry.”

Jonah’s grin after his statement suggests many things to Cyrus, none of which he’s ready to face yet.  “I work better alone.  Just…could you please turn your music down?”

Jonah agrees, leaving his place at the door to cut his music off completely.  Cyrus thanks him and starts to leave, but Jonah’s voice stops him.  “You don’t need an excuse to come by, Cyrus.”

“I didn’t know you lived here,” Cyrus points out with folded arms.

“I know, but I’m just saying, you don’t need an excuse to come back,” Jonah reiterates and there’s hope in his eyes that Cyrus is trying to ignore.  His best bet would be to leave and not let himself get wrapped up in wanting something he can’t have.

“I should…get back to studying.”

Before Jonah can say anything else that might change his mind, Cyrus sprints back to his room and closes the door.  He leans against it, taking several deep breaths. 

It’s easier this way, Cyrus tells himself, safer to keep his heart under lock and key instead of opening it up to the possibility of getting hurt or, even worse, hurting someone else.  

*****

Another week passes and Cyrus doesn’t see Jonah again.  Cyrus doesn’t try to call him, finger hovering over Jonah’s name in his contact list before tossing the phone aside.  He _definitely_ doesn’t stand outside his dorm room for ten minutes contemplating whether to knock on his door or just run away.  Spoiler alert: he chooses option B.

Cyrus tries to distract himself with his work and not think about the way his heart still hammers in his chest whenever Jonah smiles at him.  He’s not in middle school anymore, just the mere thought of Jonah Beck shouldn’t affect him this way. 

But as soon as Cyrus saw him again, all the feelings came flooding back to him, feelings that, even with an ocean between them and five years apart, never went away if he’s being honest with himself.

Cyrus has a late shift at the library.  He’s one of the few people working there that has no problem taking the late shift on a Saturday night if he has to.  It’s not like he has any plans other than to get a head start on his Art History paper that’s not due for another two weeks. 

The library is usually dead on Saturday nights with most people opting to spend their time at parties or just any place but there.  Cyrus is sitting at his usual spot at the circulation desk researching expressionism in Western European art when someone taps the bell sitting on the counter in front of him.

Cyrus doesn’t even need to look up to know who it is.  Sure enough when he glances up from his computer, he finds Jonah standing before him with his usual smile. 

“Why are you here, Jonah?”  Cyrus questions.  “And how did you even know I work here and what my schedule is?  Did you look me up?”

He throws Jonah’s words back at him but is surprised when Jonah answers him honestly.  “Yes, I did.”

Cyrus rolls his eyes at him and says, “It’s Saturday night.  Don’t you have somewhere else to be?  Parties to go to, friends to see?”   

“The only person I want to see is right in front of me,” Jonah admits in a soft voice and Cyrus swallows hard but then stands up from his seat and grabs a pile of books from the desk next to him.

“I have to re-shelve these.  You should go.”

Cyrus walks around to the front of his desk and starts his trek to return the books to their rightful place but Jonah is right on his heels.

“I talked to Andi and Buffy,” Jonah tells him as he starts to shelve a few books on Anthropology.  “They weren’t nearly as surprised as I was to find out you went here.  Do you know why that is?”

“No idea,” Cyrus lies, and his voice sounds unconvincing even to his own ears.

“Because they knew already.  They knew everything because you still talked to them, didn’t you?  You talked to them this whole time but not to me.  You only cut _me_ out and I want to know why.”

Cyrus ignores him and continues to walk to another set of shelves, but Jonah won’t be deterred.  “Why, Cyrus?  Why did you shut me out for all these years?  Why did I have to find out we go to the same college because of an off-chance encounter and not from you directly?”

Cyrus is reaching up to return another book to its proper place, but Jonah snatches it from him.  Cyrus spins on his heel to face Jonah.  “Give it back.”

Jonah shakes his head, holding the book out of his reach. “No.  Not until you stop hiding behind these books and all the studying and tell me the truth.  Why did you cut me out of your life?”

“Because it hurt too much!”  Cyrus finally yells and he can feel the tears starting to gather in his eyes despite his futile attempts to keep them at bay.  “It hurt too much to talk to you, to text you, and to FaceTime with you knowing that I could never…”

Cyrus drifts off, lowering his head when the tears finally make their appearance and Jonah reaches to wipe them away.  “You could never what?”

Cyrus sighs deeply before revealing, “I could never be with you, not the way I wanted.  It was hard enough trying to be friends with you when we lived in the same town, feeling the way I do about you, but to be so far away, to not even be able to be around you at all?  It was worse.  I just couldn’t…I couldn’t do it anymore.  I had to try and move on.”

“And did you?  Did you move on?  Do you not feel that way anymore?”

Cyrus sniffles and lifts his head to meet Jonah’s eyes.  “There’s never been anyone else.”

Almost as soon as the words leave his mouth, Jonah is kissing him so intensely that Cyrus’ back hits the shelf behind him and a few of the books tumble to the floor.  Cyrus instinctively wraps his arms around Jonah’s neck and kisses him as if his life depends on it.  They eventually pull back but only because they’re running out of air. 

Jonah rests his forehead against Cyrus’ and says, “So, I guess now would be a good time to tell you that I like you, Cyrus.  I liked you back then and as soon as I saw you again I felt like I was back in middle school.  You left me back then but I’m not letting you go again.”   

“I’m not going anywhere,” Cyrus says, and Jonah grins and leans in to kiss him again. 

Cyrus and Jonah may have been apart for five years but the feelings between them are just as strong as they’ve ever been and will only continue to grow now that they’re back where they belong…with each other.    

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it!


End file.
